Family Archives - Page 21 of 144

I Hold a Wolf by the Ears: Stories by Laura Van den Berg [in Booklist]

08 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Short Stories

Measured and controlled, Amy Landon expertly ciphers this 11-story collection with a sense of purposeful detachment, as if these women’s stories are too difficult, too harrowing to risk becoming too involved. Three stories, each highlighting erasure, emerge as standouts: in “Lizards,” an angry Floridian transplant...

The Lehman Trilogy by Stefano Massini, translated by Richard Dixon [in Booklist]

06 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, European, Fiction, Jewish, Repost, Translation, Verse Novel/Nonfiction

*STARRED REVIEW On September 11, 1844, Heyum Lehmann from Rimpar, Germany disembarked from a ship in New York harbor to become Henry Lehman. Brothers Emmanuel and Mayer soon followed. From immigrant store owners turned cotton traders in pre-Civil War Alabama, the brothers moved to banking in...

We Are Not from Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez [in Booklist]

04 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Audio, Fiction, Latin American, Latina/o/x, Repost, Young Adult Readers

Jenny Torres Sanchez’s latest doesn’t let up – beatings, rape, murder, and still more violence looms. Marisa Blake may be a relative newbie narrator, but her thoroughly bilingual ability ensures a fluent, heart-thumping listen following three teens on the run from their gang-controlled Guatemalan village...

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole [in Booklist]

03 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Repost

Both Susan Dalian and Jay Aaseng are relatively new narrators, but theirs is no novice performance of historical romance novelist Alyssa Cole’s first thriller. The pair alternates bearing witness to the aggressive gentrification erasing a historically Black Brooklyn neighborhood by wealthy white families and investors. Dalian’s...

A Good Family by A. H. Kim [in Booklist]

01 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Korean American, Repost

Once upon a time, Beth and Sam Min-Lindstrom seemed like the perfect, wealthy family with two adorable daughters. But now Beth is in prison, convicted of pharmaceutical shenanigans. Without Beth’s oversight (never mind her hefty salary), Sam and the girls need his always-reliable older sister,...

At Night All Blood Is Black by David Diop [in Shelf Awareness]

30 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, European, Fiction, French, Repost, Translation

*STARRED REVIEW Spare and devastating, At Night All Blood Is Black by French Senegalese author David Diop is a bone-chilling anti-war treatise. He chooses as backdrop a little-known chapter of World War I annals, when the French government drafted some 200,000 soldiers from its colonies, including Senegal....

The Living Is Easy by Dorothy West [in Shelf Awareness]

27 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Black/African American, Fiction, Repost

The late, great Dorothy West's trailblazing debut novel, The Living Is Easy, remains presciently relevant almost three-quarters of a century after its initial publication. Racial inequity, police brutality, Black incarceration all haunt West's biting narrative, ready to resonate with a new generation of contemporary readers. Set...

Papaya Salad by Elisa Macellari, translated by Carla Roncalli Di Montorio [in Booklist]

26 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, European, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Hapa/Mixed-race, Italian, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost, Southeast Asian, Thai, Translation, Young Adult Readers

*STARRED REVIEW Although Thai Italian artist Elisa Macellari’s Kusama (2020) hit U.S. shelves first, Papaya Salad is actually her debut title, originally published in 2018 in her native Italy. Introducing her tale as “a story the protagonist told me when I was a child and which I stumbled across...

The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez by Rudy Ruiz [in Booklist]

25 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Mexican, Mexican American, Repost

Some happy endings are inevitable ...

The Mermaid from Jeju by Sumi Hahn [in Booklist]

23 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Korean American, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW Once upon a time, Junja was a “real” mermaid, a Korean haenyeo – one of the world-renowned freediving women who gather sea life – of Jeju Island. By 2001, she’s spent most of her life as “a pillar of the Korean American community in...

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, translated by Geoffrey Trousselot [in Christian Science Monitor]

20 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Japanese, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers

A chance to redo the past in Before the Coffee Gets Cold Time travel and café culture yields a lovely, wise brew in a translation of Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s popular play-turned-novel. Originally debuting onstage in Japan, Before the Coffee Gets Cold won praise and awards for its playwright, Toshikazu Kawaguchi....

My Brilliant Life by Ae-ran Kim, translated by Chi-Young Kim [in Booklist]

19 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers

The youngest winner ever of multiple important literary prizes in her native Korea, Ae-ran Kim’s first full-length novel arrives Stateside, hauntingly English-enabled by lauded translator Chi-Young Kim (no relation). Areum suffers from progeria, a rare disease that causes rapid, premature aging: “My dad sees his...

The Dragons, the Giant, the Women by Wayétu Moore [in Booklist]

18 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Black/African American, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers

Wayétu Moore is the first to speak, although only briefly, to share her initial excitement over the possibility of narrating her elegant memoir. That opportunity, alas, became another “casualty of COVID-19,” preventing her from safe studio time, but she adds a personal thanks to narrator...

Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte, illustrated by Ann Xu [in Shelf Awareness]

17 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Taiwanese, Taiwanese American

Debut author Lily LaMotte draws on her immigrant experiences – as well as her cooking show obsession – for a toothsome #OwnVoices graphic feast vibrantly illustrated by the Ignatz-nominated Ann Xu. For 12-year-old Cici, leaving Taiwan means separation from her beloved A-má (grandmother). In Seattle, Cici's...

The Magical Language of Others by E. J. Koh [in Library Journal]

16 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Korean, Korean American, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers

That she’s fluent in Korean, Japanese, and English ensures a smooth double debut – as memoirist and narrator – for poet E. J. Koh (A Lesser Love). Her languid delivery is a lulling invitation into emotional intimacy. From her San Jose, California, birth into early...

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie [in Booklist]

12 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers

Prodigious Soneela Nankani – who reigns as the South Asian/South Asian American voice-of-choice – ventures onto onto a new continent, landing in Ghana to cipher debut novelist/gender scholar Peace Adzo Medie’s not-quite-Cinderella tale with energetic aplomb. Once upon a time, Afi was a poor village seamstress-in-training,...

Luster by Raven Leilani [in Booklist]

10 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW Edie is 23, has a bottom-tier publishing job, and inhabits a shabby sixth-floor Bushwick walk-up. Eric is 23 years older, a New Jersey archivist, and in an open marriage – with rules dictated by his wife. Their one-month online affair compels a first date...

Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn [in Library Journal]

09 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Repost

Hardworking Malia and Augie have plenty of love but can’t ever quite get ahead. In hopes of providing better opportunities for their three children, the pair relocate from Hawai'i to Oahu, but not before Augie insists the family share an adventure on a glassbottom boat...

The New Wilderness by Diane Cook [in Booklist]

08 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

Veteran voice actor Stacey Glembowski – already seasoned with substantial science fiction experience – immediately commands Diane Cook’s (Man v. Nature) timely novel debut in which 20 desperate men, women, children abandon their depleting City lives to become the inaugural Community in the Wilderness State....

Sneeze by Naoki Urasawa, translated by John Werry [in Booklist]

06 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Repost, Translation

For Naoki Urasawa newbies, his latest collection (another satisfying English translation by popular manga-specialist John Werry) is a beckoning introductory primer. For aficionados, these eight stories (none titled “Sneeze”), originally published between 1995-2018, are an affirming reminder of his irrefutable genius. Urasawa’s most memorable stories feature...

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